Posted: 6/20/03

SBC resolves families need help, decries gay unions

By Marv Knox

Editor

PHOENIX–Southern Baptists punctuated key themes of their annual gathering with statements affirming “kingdom families” and condemning homosexual unions.

Those topics highlighted a slate of eight resolutions approved by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 18 in Phoenix.

Messengers also condemned abortion, declared the recent war in Iraq “just,” affirmed religious liberty, denounced anti-Semitism, called for a response to the global AIDS crisis and thanked the local hosts.

They zipped through the resolutions, pausing only briefly to defeat two amendments made by Wiley Drake, a perennial fixture at SBC microphones, known for offering a spate of motions and resolutions.

A key focal point of the Phoenix meeting actually occurred the evening before the convention started, when the annual Pastors' Conference turned its final session into a Kingdom Family Rally.

The rally capped three years of preparation by the SBC's Council on Family Life. The council unveiled principles called “The Seven Pillars of a Kingdom Family.”

That emphasis telegraphed the SBC's first resolution, “On Kingdom Families.” It cited divorce, attempts to redefine the family, infidelity and abandonment as factors undermining the “biblical model of the family.”

Even the church is not immune, the resolution conceded, noting, “a disproportionately large number of children reared in evangelical churches are growing up to leave the 'faith of their fathers.'”

Through the resolution, messengers agreed to “renew our commitment to build kingdom families by the recovery of the biblical understanding of family and the acknowledgement of the permanence and responsibilities of the marriage covenant.”

The resolution also urged parents to “assume their responsibility as the primary protectors and instructors of their children” and called on churches to strengthen families and marriages, as well as to minister to single-parent families.

The resolution denouncing “same-sex marriage” tied in closely with a new initiative, announced by Jimmy Draper, president of the SBC's LifeWay Christian Resources. The convention created the Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals. It will encourage churches to provide ministries to help people leave the homosexual lifestyle.

The “same-sex marriage” resolution cited recent advances made by advocates of homosexual rights–Vermont legalization of “civil unions” for same-sex couples, a California law giving registered partners the same rights as married couples, courts in Massachusetts and New Jersey considering legalization of same-sex unions, and the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which requires that marriages enacted in one state be recognized nationally.

These initiatives will result in more homosexual couples demanding their “marriages” be recognized in other states, the resolution predicted. Advocates of such unions also will challenge state laws and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, which declare marriage only exists between one man and one woman, it warned.

“Jesus states that marriage is a sacred, lifelong bond between one man and one woman,” and the Bible calls the homosexual lifestyle “sinful and dangerous both to the individuals involved and to society at large,” the resolution said.

“Legal and biblical marriage can only occur between one man and one woman,” messengers affirmed. They went on record opposing “all efforts by any court or state legislature to validate or legalize same-sex marriage or other equivalent unions.”

The resolution also called on churches to “guard our religious liberty to recognize and perform marriages as defined by Scripture.” It urged Southern Baptists to “demonstrate our love for those practicing homosexuality by sharing with them the forgiving and transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The other resolutions:

Condemned abortion.

“Scripture reveals that all human life is created in the image of God and therefore sacred to our Creator,” the resolution stated. “The Bible affirms that the unborn baby is a person bearing the image of God from the moment of conception” and “commands the people of God to plead for the protection for the innocent and justice for the fatherless.”

The resolution criticized 1970s-era SBC leaders and resolutions because they “endorsed and furthered the 'pro-choice' abortion-rights agenda.”

Messengers went on record stating the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision “was based on a fundamentally flawed understanding of the U.S. Constitution, human embryology and the basic principles of human rights.”

The resolution pledged Southern Baptists' prayers, love and advocacy for people abused by abortion and its aftermath. It called on churches to “remain vigilant in the protection of human life.” It also urged Southern Baptists to adopt unwanted children, support women in crisis pregnancies and encourage government officials to “protect the lives of women and children.”

The resolution affirmed Congress for passing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 and applauded President Bush's promise to sign the bill. It also pledged Southern Baptists would work for repeal of Roe vs. Wade and “for the day when the act of abortion will not only be illegal, but also unthinkable.”

Affirmed the recent war that resulted in the “liberation of Iraq.”

“We believe Operation Iraqi Freedom was a warranted action based upon historic principles of just war,” the resolution said. It affirmed President Bush, Congress and the U.S. military for successfully executing the war.

The resolution exhorted Southern Baptists to pray for people who lost loved ones in the war, for troops and diplomatic leaders charged with rebuilding Iraq, and for peace and justice in Iraq.

Declared “absolute religious liberty” to be a basic human right that should be affirmed globally.

The religious liberty resolution portrayed Southern Baptists, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, as a maligned minority.

“Southern Baptists have been subject to intense criticism for our insistence that a faith which engenders or encourages religious persecution or interferes with the free exercise of religion is not consistent with the revelation of God,” the resolution said.

“Southern Baptists and other evangelical Christians have in recent months been increasingly portrayed by the media and by international government sources as intolerant and even dangerous because of our commitment to Christ as the only way of salvation.”

Such characterizations misrepresent the history of Baptists, who have been “determined advocates of freedom, especially religious liberty,” the resolution said.

It cited “a growing movement” that labels Christian preaching a “hate crime” and called on media, government and others “to recognize that Baptists have been and continue to be ardent advocates of religious freedom.”

Denounced “all forms of anti-Semitism as contrary to the teachings of our Messiah and an assault on the revelation of Holy Scripture.”

The anti-Semitism resolution noted Southern Baptists “deplore all forms of hatred or bigotry toward any person or people group” and pointed out the Bible describes God's love for the Jewish people, “through whom God has blessed the world with his word and his Messiah, our Lord Jesus.”

Anti-Semitism is increasing globally, including recent commissions and conferences sponsored by the United Nations, it said, adding anti-Semitism in some European countries has reached a level not experienced since World War II.

“We affirm to Jewish people around the world that we stand with them against any harassment that violates our historic commitments to religious liberty and human dignity,” the resolution said. “And … we call on governmental and religious leaders across the world to stand against all forms of bigotry, hatred or persecution.”

Supported humanitarian efforts to combat the AIDS crisis around the globe and urged prayer for and ministry to AIDS victims.

The resolution noted the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa and affirmed emergency relief, such as $15 billion allocated by President Bush and Congress to combat the disease in Africa during the next five years.

It pointed out AIDS has been combated most effectively by an abstinence-based strategy that calls for sexual relations to take place only within marriage.

AIDS victims are “a neighbor our Lord Jesus has commanded us to love as we love ourselves,” the resolution noted. It called on Southern Baptists to pray for AIDS victims and act on their behalf and urged churches to “model the reconciliation and mercy of the kingdom of God by showing compassion to those suffering with AIDS.”

Thanked all the people whom God used “to bring about a convention characterized by grace, evangelism, worship, encouragement, unity and purpose.”

This year, a new convention bylaw required messengers to submit proposed resolutions in advance of the annual meeting. Resolutions Committee Chairman Mike Hamlet, pastor of First Baptist Church of North Spartanburg, S.C., declared the procedure a success.

But Drake, whose amendments to the Iraq and religious liberty resolutions lost overwhelmingly, proposed a motion to suspend the submit-in-advance bylaw. Convention parliamentarians ruled his motion out of order, noting the bylaw could not be suspended.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 6/20/03

Texas pastor explains change of view

PHOENIX–The Texas pastor whose request launched the Southern Baptist Convention's new initiative on homosexuality said his views on the controversial topic have changed under conviction from God.

Bob Stith, pastor of Carroll Baptist Church in Southlake, told SBC messengers that in the past he had been “your typical hard-nosed, redneck pastor on the subject of homosexuality.”

“Everything I said in conversations and sermons was harsh,” he acknowledged. “Then I sensed God saying something to me one day, asking me if someone who was struggling with that heard me preach, would they come to me for help. I realized that they would not come to me, and if they did I would not have much to offer them.”

Since then, Stith said, he has spent thousands of hours listening to people who struggle with homosexuality, over and over hearing from people “wounded by well-meaning Christians,” he said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted 6/20/03

SBC speakers promote kingdom, family

By Tony Cartledge

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

PHOENIX, Ariz.–Theme interpreters focused on the kingdom of God and crises facing the church during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 17-18.

“Jesus Christ is king,” Adrian Rogers told messengers in the opening message on Tuesday morning “We didn't vote him in; we will not vote him out.”

Rogers, a former SBC president and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in suburban Memphis, Tenn., said Jesus Christ has been maligned and minimized in public education and public events in America, but Jesus remains King of kings.

Clayton Ross (right) of Lakewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, tries to collide with Adam Yarbrough of Warren Baptist Church in Indianapolis during the Southern Baptist Convention Student Conference, June 17. Youth volunteer Leslie Ledbetter referees the inflatable Sumo wrestling game set up on the plaza of the Phoenix Civic Center.

“You'll never really appreciate the kingdom until you see his king,” Rogers said, drawing on Revelation 1:12-18 to highlight 10 characteristics of Christ as king. Those include Christ's “undiminished humanity,” “unrivaled majesty” and “unblemished purity,” he said. Christ also reveals humans' hearts with “unhindered scrutiny,” Rogers said, with eyes that not only see, but see through.

Rogers described Christ as one who will judge with “untarnished integrity.”

The king cannot overlook sin, he said, explaining that sin either will be pardoned or punished. “If Jesus Christ were to let one half of one sin go unpunished, he would cease to be holy,” Rogers said.

Christ rules with “unchallenged authority” and with “unequalled mastery” as he wins an “unspoiled victory” with the sword that comes from his mouth, Rogers said.

“God spoke, and universes dripped from his fingers,” Rogers said.

Even though a day is coming when the antichrist and his hordes will fight against Christ with all their modern technology and weapons, Rogers said, Jesus will win the victory using only the sword of his mouth.

Finally, Rogers said, Christ rules with “undimmed glory” and with “undiluted deity” as the one who died and is alive forevermore.

Appreciating Christ as king should lead believers to respond with total submission and unquestioned obedience, Rogers said. Christians don't need to ask God for more money for missions, he said, but need to give God the money they already have.

Obedient Christians share their faith, Rogers also said. “If you're not interested in soul-winning, if you're not interested in bringing people to the Lord Jesus Christ, God sent me here to tell you you're not right with God. … To refuse his Great Commission is a clenched fist in the face of God; it is high treason against heaven's king.”

Christians should live in glad anticipation of Christ's return, Rogers said, explaining that the antichrist gives people a number, while Jesus gives a name

“When he comes, the big question is, will your name be called, or will your number be up?”

Danny Akin, vice president and academic dean at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, declared that men who want to be faithful to Christ must begin at home.

A Christian man surrendered to the lordship of Christ will be a different kind of man, he said, a man of conviction, commitment, character and commission.

Akin pointed to Ephesians 5:25-6:4 as a call for men to love their wives and bless their children.

Men should love their wives sacrificially, Akin said, not just emotionally, but volitionally, as an act of will, “even when she is not lovely.”

When Southern Baptists added the “family amendment” to the Baptist Faith & Message in 1998, the public media couldn't see anything but the statement calling for wives to be submissive to their husbands, he said.

“We don't apologize for that,” Akin said, but added that people should read the rest of the article, which says the husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church and “to provide for his family servant leadership.”

“We're not to be CEOs in our homes,” he said. “We're not to be frustrated drill sergeants, barking out orders,” but servant leaders, shepherd leaders, sacrificial leaders.

Husbands should “love sanctifyingly,” Akin said, encouraging their wives to walk more closely with Christ. “If there's anyone that you disciple in your life, you ought to begin with your wife and then your children,” he said.

Husbands should love their wives with sensitivity, as they cherish their own bodies, Akin said.

“God has made us equal but God has made us different,” he said. “God has called the man to be the leader. God has called the wife to be the helper. But God has wired men and women differently.”

After years of study, Akin said, he has concluded men are like dogs who want only to be fed, played with and praised. Women are more like cats, he said, friendly at times but moody and unpredictable.

A husband's love also should be specific, Akin said.

“Make a covenant with your eyes,” he said, quoting Job 31:1, not to “look intently” at other women, whether in person, in magazines, in movies or on the Internet.

Akin said men likewise should make a covenant never to be alone with any woman other than their wives. Pastors, in particular, should not counsel women alone, he said.

As fathers, men should bless their children, Akin said, educating them to obey their parents. It is not enough just to tell them what to do, he said, but why they should do it.

Fathers also are to encourage their children with focused attention and affirmation, he said.

It doesn't take a great mind to be a man of God, but a great heart, Akin said. “When it comes to winning the world for Christ, I'm going to make sure I start where I need to start;; I'm going to start with my home.”

Effective evangelism requires sharing both the words and the music of the gospel, Ed Young told messengers in the closing address Tuesday night.

Young, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston and a former SBC president, said many of today's churches focus on teaching or praying but don't emphasize evangelism.

The great evangelists from the first and second Great Awakenings attracted great crowds for only a few years because “they ran out of cities,” he noted. They then turned to establishing educational institutions to teach people to go out into the towns and hamlets and preach, he said.

But now America faces a crisis of faith, he said. “We have lost the cultural war.”

In America, 35 percent to 40 percent of the people attend church with some frequency, but few can explain what it means to follow Christ because “we've so watered down Christianity that it has lost any sense of a biblical definition in our day and in our age,” Young asserted.

Young offered an interpretation of the history of Western civilization from the 14th century, when he said most people accepted a biblical worldview, to the present. The church did not adequately respond to the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and urbanization, he said, leaving the church frustrated and confused.

Even among Southern Baptists, he said, while the U.S. population virtually doubled in the past 50 years, the SBC has annually baptized about the same number of people.

The SBC now faces “an unbelievable crisis even greater than the theological crisis we came to conventions in great numbers to fight about,” he declared, noting that last year, more than 29,000 Southern Baptist churches baptized less than 10 people each.

Churches are lost in the 1950's, using methodologies that no longer work, he said, a practice he called “insane.”

The answer lies in a first-century strategy for evangelism, Young said. The Apostle Paul and other early evangelists faced ignorance and hostility, the same cultural conditions the church faces today, he said.

To confront ignorance, the church must proclaim the gospel–declaring, defining and defending the word of God, Young said.

To confront hostility, the church should serve through social ministries, he said, explaining that the church exploded numerically in the first few centuries because the early Christians gained a reputation as people who served the poor, the suffering, and the diseased.

In the final theme interpretation, the executive director of the five-year-old Southern Baptists of Texas Convention said Jesus offered insights into “kingdom living” through three encounters in Luke 9:57-62.

Jim Richards said kingdom living calls for believers to trust in the provisions of God's providence. To one who offered to follow Him, Jesus cautioned that “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Some Christians misinterpret the “prayer of Jabez” to think of God as “a cosmic bellboy waiting to grant our every wish,” he said, but Christians are bound to experience trials.

“God is not as concerned about our happiness as he is our holiness; he is not as concerned about our comfort as he is about our cross,” Richards said.

To deal with difficulties, believers should rely on the Holy Spirit and rest in God's promises, he said, and the provisions of God's providence will see them through.

Kingdom living calls for an appreciation of the pre-eminence of Christ's person, Richards said, urging that Christians should not be consumed by popular opinion or controlled by personal agendas.

Those who please Christ live in deference to Christ's call to preach the gospel and are willing to die to self, Richards said.

Finally, kingdom living involves following the priority of Christ's plan, he said.

Jesus said those who would follow him cannot take their hand from the plow, Richards noted, explaining that means one who follows Christ cannot look back or lapse into old lifestyles but must look forward to plow a straight row.

A Christian's purpose should include seeking holiness, he concluded. “We've lowered the bar of holiness, and we have allowed public culture to creep in to the point that we have lost our saltiness.”

Following Christ's priorities requires getting alone with God every day, he said, and doing God's will: “Kingdom living today is all about living for the King.”

Posted: 6/20/03

Women are 'jewels' of God's creation, humorist says

By Stacey Hamby

Midwestern Seminary

PHOENIX (BP)–Liz Curtis Higgs delivered her trademark humor to nearly 1,000 women at the Ministers' Wives Conference luncheon June 17 during the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Phoenix.

The popular author and speaker kept the women laughing while sharing a message of joy and beauty drawn from Christian faith.

Humorist Liz Curtis Higgs encourages Southern Baptist ministers' wives to look in the mirror every morning and say, "Tada!" (Matt Miller/BP Photo)

“Does it not thrill you that we are God's crown of creation?” Higgs asked, referencing the luncheon's “Jewels in the Desert” theme.

“We are the last thing he made, and he said we are very good,” Higgs said. “Women were not an afterthought; we were uniquely created and uniquely equipped. I love to encourage women to embrace that and run with it.”

She told every woman to jump in front of a mirror after she's ready for the day and say, “Tada!” “What happens is, we look in the mirror and find something wrong,” she said. “Most women don't stop in front of a mirror to say, 'Oh, baby.' We stop to look for a problem, and if you're looking for a problem, you will find a problem.”

Saying “tada” will change the way you think, she predicted. “You can't say it grumpy. It takes 5 pounds and five years off your face right off the bat. It will change how you think about you and how you think about God and trust that he knows what he was doing when he made you. I want you to see yourself as God sees you, and you are gorgeous.”

Higgs also encouraged the women to laugh more. “People sometimes say they don't have time to laugh,” she said. “Now that's too busy.

“We do carry a lot of burdens, and you may think it's your job as a minister's wife to carry people's burdens. We put it in a backpack and tell God, 'I got it.' But wouldn't it just be awesome if you could just lay your burdens down for 40 minutes? Why don't you just throw it at the foot of the cross? He says, 'Take my yoke upon you.' He's going to carry the weight of it; he's just asking you to walk with him.

“Now, when you're done here, somebody can help you put the backpack back on if you want it or, if you're like me and over 40, you won't remember where you left it anyway.”

Higgs said her third mission is to get women excited about the stories of women in the Bible. The author of “Bad Girls of the Bible” outlined some of her lessons learned from studying women such as Eve, Delilah and Jezebel.

There was only one commandment in the Garden of Eden, Higgs said. “And it was a diet–'Thou shalt not eat.' It was a food problem from the beginning. If that commandment had been, 'Thou shalt not drive around the garden more than 70 miles per hour,' Adam would have sinned first. And it wasn't an apple–how tempting would an apple be? It was Godiva chocolate.”

Nevertheless, Higgs said, Eve was without excuse. “Eve couldn't say, 'I had a dysfunctional childhood.' She is like all of us, and she is there to teach us how not to be a bad girl.”

Higgs said she enjoys studying the bad girls of the Bible because she once was a bad girl.

“In 1980, I was working at a radio station doing an afternoon show at the same place Howard Stern did a morning show,” she said. Stern “told me I needed to clean up my act–not my on-air act, my life. When Howard Stern tells you need to clean up your life, it's time to pay attention. But I didn't.”

Eventually, she met two people who “loved me into the kingdom,” she said. “They told me I was beautiful, loveable. I couldn't believe them.”

She went to church with them one day to see for herself if there were other people like them, and she said there were “pews and pews” full of funny, loving, friendly people. The first sermon she heard was from Ephesians 5.

“Here I was single and a feminist, and here's this message on wives submitting to their husbands,” she recounted. “But it goes on to say, 'Husbands, love your wives and die for them.' When I heard that, I said to my friends if a man would die for me, I'd marry him in a minute. They told me a man already died for me, and his name is Jesus.”

Seven weeks later, Higgs said she wanted a fresh start in life, and she got it through faith in Jesus.

“All of you have bad girls in your congregation,” she said. “Be patient with your bad girls; make sure they know what an invitation means. Show them your joy. Nothing will bring people like joy.”

New officers for the conference are Donna Gaines, president, wife of Steve Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Ala.; Rana Smith, vice president, wife of Ron Smith, pastor of Sunnycrest Baptist Church in Marion, Ind.; Marilyn Foley, recording secretary/treasurer, wife of Mark Foley, president of the University of Mobile in Alabama; and Tammy Etheridge, corresponding secretary, wife of Grant Etheridge, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Lavaca, Ark.

Next year's featured speaker is Bible study author and speaker Beth Moore.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 6/20/03

Teen's 'special need' is to make everyone smile

By Heather Price

Texas Baptist Communications

RICHARDSON–Those who know Nathan Williams, an 18-year-old with cerebral palsy, say he is changing the world one smile at a time.

“The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Nathan is just that he has this spirit that is always positive and always full of joy. He is never down. God has given him a special gift of lifting everyone else up because of his attitude,” said Randy Johnson, youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Richardson.

When Dan Williams, then pastor of Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo, baptized his son seven years ago, he asked the boy's “family and special friends” to rise. “It was like 'whoosh,' and everyone in the whole congregation stood up,” said Anita Williams, Nathan's mother.

Nathan Williams holds a special memento from his participation with the basketball team of Richard's Pearce High School, where he made a free throw in a junior varsity playoff game.

When asked about his favorite part of church, Nathan replied: “I like worship. I like singing.”

Williams has been singing since he was 3 years old. He is in the a cappella choir at Pearce High School in Richardson and the Living Sacrifice Choir at First Baptist Church.

While on a choir mission trip to a juvenile detention center, Williams shared his testimony of salvation in front of many discouraged and disbelieving youth.

“I told them about Jesus,” he said.

In a short, straightforward address, he captured the attention of every eye in the room.

“Those hardened teenage kids broke out in immediate applause,” Johnson said.

Living Sacrifice Choir is traveling to Saskatchewan, Canada, this month on a mission trip. Williams will sing a solo during a retirement center performance.

While practicing his song, “Shall We Gather at the River,” Nathan glanced over at his mom, who was accompanying him on the piano. He smiled as he sang every note perfectly on pitch.

“He is just the most faithful kid I have ever seen. He is committed to use his voice and his ability for the Lord,” said Don Blackley, minister of music at First Baptist Church.

In addition to singing, Williams also loves to pray. He is the prayer representative for youth at his church. Every three weeks, he gets a stack of requests from people with special needs.

“When he hears that someone has a special need, he calls them and then he calls other people and gets them to pray for that person too,” Mrs. Williams explained.

With every telephone call, Williams believes he helps them feel better, he said.

Mrs. Williams estimates her son has memorized more than 50 telephone numbers.

Williams has a passion for people and “has more personal relationships than anyone in the youth group,” Blackley said. “He is well loved. He's everybody's friend, and it is because he walks up to people and says: 'Hi, my name is Nathan. What's yours?'”

Williams is one of the most adored members of the youth group, according to the youth pastor.

“He is always upbeat and always talking and saying things like, 'You look great today.' He uses his natural ability God has given him within his handicap,” Johnson said.

This past school year, Williams had the chance to shoot a free throw during a junior varsity basketball playoff game. As the team manager, he had wanted a chance to get in the action.

As Williams was subbed in for another player at the free-throw line, the crowd simultaneously broke out cheering, “Go Nate-Dog!”

Moments after making the second shot, he jumped around in celebration. It remains one of his fondest memories.

His father, who directs the Texas Baptist Laity Institute, often reminds his son of the coach's remarks after the game, “When you are old and thinking back, you need to recall events like this one, when someone special gave everything he had and made a contribution to the team.”

Nathan does not allow his physical or mental limitations to slow him down, Johnson noted. “He has done everything most other kids can do.”

After graduation next May, Williams plans to participate in Transition, a program sponsored by his high school and Richland College. The program allows him to get the needed skills for finding a job while being employed by the school.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 6/20/03

Texas Tidbits

Nominations accepted. The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation is accepting nominations for the 2003 Mission Service Awards through July 31. The foundation's board of advisers will select a winner for the Pioneer Award, which honors a longtime leader in missions or someone who played a key role in starting mission work; the Innovator Award, to a church or individual who provided a model of missions; and Adventurer Award, for outstanding financial support of leadership in ministry. Nominations may be sent to Bill Arnold at the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, 333 North Washington, Dallas 75246.

DBU prof wins writing award. Dallas Baptist University professor of philosophy David Naugle has received a 2003 book award from Christianity Today for his work, "Worldview: The History of a Concept." The awards are chosen by evangelical leaders in numerous disciplines including academia, the church and journalism. Among the 300 titles nominated, only 19 received honors, with Naugle's book chosen over 34 other books in the theology/ethics category. A member of the DBU faculty since 1990, Naugle also serves as chairman of the philosophy department.

HBTS honors Flores. Fermin Flores, religious education professor for 32 years at Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio, will retire Jan. 1. Because of his exemplary service to the school, the administration, faculty, staff and students have established the Fermin Flores Scholarship Fund. Dean of Academic Affairs Javier Elizondo is collecting appreciation letters to Flores. Letters may be mailed to Elizondo at 8019 South Pan Am Expressway, San Antonio 78224.

Pehl named nursing dean. Linda Pehl has been named dean of the Scott & White School of Nursing at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She has worked in the nursing profession nearly 40 years at both Scott & White Hospital in Temple and at the university. Her career started as head nurse at Scott & White in 1964. She received a bachelor of science in nursing degree from Mary Hardin-Baylor College in 1973, the master of science degree in nursing from the University of Texas in Austin in 1975, and a Ph.D. from UT-Austin in 1988.

Groundbreaking planned. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Frank and Sue Mayborn Campus Center at 10:30 a.m. June 25. The groundbreaking will take place on University Drive, adjacent to the Red Murff Baseball Field. The new center will provide program space for student health and recreation, the exercise and sport science academic program, collegiate basketball and volleyball games, concerts, convocations and special events for the university and the community. The facility will include a new arena, classrooms and laboratories for the academic programs, a utility/recreation gym, an exercise/fitness room, an aerobics room, dressing rooms, and faculty and coaches' offices.

Robuck to BGCT. The Baptist General Convention of Texas Church Starting Center recently named Tom Robuck as Central Texas consultant. Robuck will create and facilitate church-starting strategies for the region. A graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he earned the doctor of ministry in missions degree from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. He has extensive ministerial experience, including pastorates at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Athens and the First Baptist churches of Barry, Streetman and Commerce. Recently he served as minister of missions at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have a 23-year-old son, Christopher.

Hospital births scholarship. King's Daughters Hospital of Temple has established a $30,000 endowed scholarship at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The scholarship recognizes the long-standing relationship the hospital has maintained with the university. The scholarship will be granted annually to a nursing major who meets financial need requirements.

Potter to new role. The Baptist General Convention of Texas Church Health & Growth section recently named Ivan Potter director of the office of capital funds and congregational stewardship. Potter will assist churches in fund-raising campaigns and budget education. He is the former president and chief executive officer of Texas Baptist Financial Services.

Family conference planned. Authors Les and Leslie Parrott will lead the third annual Blanche Davis Moore–South Texas Children's Home Family Conference July 19 in Corpus Christi's Selena Auditorium. Cost is $10 per person, which includes a copy of the Parrotts' book "Relationships 101." The conference, titled "Get a Love Life," will focus on strengthening marriages and relationships. For more information, call (361) 991-8680 or e-mail familyconference@stch.org.

Hispanic church conference planned. A Hispanic Church Health and Growth Conference is scheduled for Aug. 9 at Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen. Workshops will be offered in English and Spanish. Mike Gonzales, director of missions for Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association, and Ellis Orozco, pastor of the host church, are featured speakers. A $10 registration fee includes a continental breakfast and lunch at the event, sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Church Health & Growth Section and Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association. For more information, contact Frank Palos at (800) 231-5096 or palos@bgct.org.

HSU adds softball. Hardin-Simmons University will add women's softball to its athletic lineup, with play beginning next spring at a complex to be built on vacant university property. The new stadium will be completed in the fall and will include a field house. Rita Jordan, former Hawley head coach and Abilene Christian University assistant coach, has been named coach for the new program.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 6/20/03

TOGETHER:
Retreat can aid ministers' marriages

Rosemary and I have worked on our marriage. Through the years, it has been more than worth it!

For 42 years, we have experienced both the joys and the difficulties pastoral ministry places on marriage. We still are learning how to communicate with each other and how to improve our understanding of each other. Some days are incredible joys. Other days can be very trying and difficult. Being in ministry is a wonderful privilege, but it can be tough on a marriage. Sometimes the balance is hard to find.

We have to make time to invest in our relationship. One of the ways we plan to do that this year is by attending the Celebrating Marriage in Ministry Retreat in San Antonio, Sept. 11-13, sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. This event takes an intentional and proactive approach in encouraging healthy marriages. An event like this can help to remind us how to keep our romance alive, how to connect with each other even in conflict and how to pray more effectively together.

CHARLES WADE Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Marriage is a wonderful gift. Our partner can be a cheerleader, confidant, comforter, companion and best friend. But those aspects of our relationships do not come automatically. Relationships take time and the investment of the best and deepest parts of ourselves. Marriage is work, and sometimes it is very hard work.

The storms of life wash over us like waves. Many marriages survive those storms and are stronger because of them. Sometimes the storms come when resources are depleted, and the conflict proves to be too much for empty relationships to survive. What can be done to replenish those resources, to renew and strengthen marriages?

We need to make our marriages a priority. Ministers need to take time away to attend events like this one in San Antonio. Congregations can help in this process and help their ministers' marriages thrive and succeed. One way to make that happen is for your congregation to give this weekend to your minister and spouse as a gift. This could be a wonderful way to show appreciation to your minister for the great investment the pastor (or minister) has made to your congregation. Ministers, put this on your calendar and make it a priority for you and your spouse.

Ministers' marriages are not immune to the temptations and wear and tear from living in a world that sees less and less value in marriage. According to the Barna Research Group, the divorce rate in ministry marriages has risen 65 percent in the last 25 years. That is a startling statistic. For our ministry families, little time off and living under constant scrutiny puts additional pressure and strains on the marriage relationship.

Ministers can be the very ones modeling healthy marriages. When the minister takes time with his or her spouse for a date night, husbands and wives in the congregation find encouragement to invest similar time in their own marriages. Our convention wants to give our ministers the tools they need to replenish their resources and invest their time and energy into their own marriages. I believe that can be one of the best ways we can encourage healthier marriages among all our church families.

For more information on this event, call toll-free (888) 447-5143 or go to www.bgct.org/marriageretreat or e-mail cavin@bgct.org.

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News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted 6/19/03

SBC messengers cut
BWA allocation by $125,000

By Trennis Henderson

Kentucky Western Recorder

PHOENIX–A proposal to reduce the Southern Baptist Convention's allocation to the Baptist World Alliance by more than 30 percent was approved June 17 with almost no discussion.

The funding cut, included in the SBC's 2003-2004 operating budget, initially was adopted without discussion or debate. Moments later, after the convention had moved on to other business, messenger Jim Stroud was recognized by SBC President Jack Graham.

Stroud, a messenger from Tennessee, asked about the possibility of reconsidering and amending the earlier action. When told that would be out of order, Stroud requested “an explanation from the committee as to their reason for decreasing the allocation to the Baptist World Alliance.”

Morris Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee and a BWA vice president, said a study committee recommended decreasing the amount contributed to the BWA because “it appeared Southern Baptists were not being … heard adequately” on issues of concern to SBC leaders.

Sherry Reynolds, a messenger from Georgia, asked what the specific issues were that prompted the funding cut.

While press reports focused on SBC's disdain for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's pending application for BWA membership, Chapman said SBC leaders primarily were concerned about the membership application process.

The BWA membership committee “exceeded their authority by going to the full general council and relating to them the conditions on which the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship would be accepted” as a member later this year, Chapman charged. He said he and other SBC representatives “took strong issue with the process.”

As a result, the SBC's 2003-2004 operating budget of $7.84 million includes a $300,000 allocation for BWA, a cut of $125,000 from the current $425,000 line item. The remaining $125,000 was earmarked for Kingdom Relationships, a proposal for the SBC to “look toward strengthening relationships with other like-minded Christian bodies” worldwide.

When the proposal initially was approved in February by the SBC Executive Committee, Chapman said the Kingdom Relationships emphasis “won't be a duplication of the BWA.” He said initiatives might include Bible conferences and church-growth seminars that would involve “primarily Southern Baptist entities” around the world.

BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz said BWA leaders are “very sorry that the SBC has partially defunded the Baptist World Alliance.” He noted that the BWA “has been close to the heart of Southern Baptists in working together with Baptists around the world” since the organization's founding in 1905.

The SBC is a charter member of BWA, an umbrella organization of 200 Baptist unions and conventions worldwide that represents 43 million baptized believers in 193,000 churches.

In an interview after the June 17 vote, Lotz said, “We shall continue to work and pray for Southern Baptists and to express appreciation for their encouragement and support over the years.”

Emphasizing that he and BWA President Billy Kim of Korea “want Southern Baptists to know that we shall continue to work with all Southern Baptists and their leadership,” Lotz added: “We belong together because we belong to Jesus Christ. We want to work with all Baptists all over the world.”

In other business, Executive Committee proposals adopted by SBC messengers include:

Approving a 2003-2004 SBC Cooperative Program allocation budget of $182.3 million. Budget allocations include International Mission Board, 50 percent; North American Mission Board, 22.79 percent; SBC seminaries and historical library and archives, 21.64 percent; SBC operating budget and Annuity Board, 4.08 percent; and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, 1.49 percent. The first $250,000 of any budget overage will be allocated "to fund the enhancement of Cooperative Program education at the six seminaries."

Revising the IMB's ministry statement. IMB President Jerry Rankin described the changes as "a restatement and updated wording that more accurately reflects the focus and work" of the IMB. The revised document focuses on "nurturing church planting movements" as a strategy to make the gospel accessible to all people. It also highlights "sending" rather than "appointing" missionaries, recognizing a growing emphasis on volunteer workers.

Adopting a resolution of appreciation for the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life. The eight-member council, chaired by former SBC President Tom Elliff, helped plan and produce the SBC's June 16 Kingdom Family Rally. The resolution expressed appreciation for the council's "keen vision, deep passion, unflagging energy and unyielding diligence and perseverance in pursuit of the goal of saving families."

Selecting San Antonio, Texas, as the site for the 2007 SBC annual meeting to be held June 12-13.

Posted 6/19/03

Baptist World Alliance report includes plea for unity

By Tony Martin

Mississippi Baptist Record

PHOENIX, Ariz.–Immediately before Denton Lotz stood to bring the Baptist World Alliance report to the Southern Baptist Convention, messengers voted not to reconsider a partial defunding of the world Baptist body.

“The Lord has a wonderful sense of humor, doesn't he?” quipped Lotz, BWA general secretary, as he began his report June 18.

Despite the cut in funding and related tensions between the SBC and BWA, Lotz's report was positive and upbeat.

“We Baptists in the Baptist World Alliance, 260 conventions, we want to stick together with Southern Baptists, with brothers and sisters in Bangladesh, with Baptists in South Africa and Zimbabwe,” he said. “We stick together because we belong to Jesus Christ.”

Lotz brought greetings from BWA President Billy Kim of Seoul, Korea. Kim thanked Southern Baptists for their support of the BWA since 1905.

Kim also invited Southern Baptists to a “birthday party,” to the centennial celebration of the BWA in Birmingham, England.

Today is a new day in missions, Lotz declared.

“In 1900, 25 percent of the Christians in the world lived in North America and Europe,” he explained. “In 2003, 60 percent of the Christians are now in the southern hemisphere. The Spirit is moving, and perhaps one day Africans will have to come to re-evangelize Europe and North America.”

In Turkmenistan, Baptist pastors are being beaten and their churches closed, Lotz reported. “That's why we need to work together. That's why we need Southern Baptists to work with us. We work together for religious freedom.

“We also work together for reciprocity,” Lotz continued. “Thirty years ago, there was only one mosque in Washington. Today there are 39. So now, we need to tell our brothers and sisters that we need a church in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. We want religious freedom for the whole world. That's why we work for reciprocity and work in the United Nations for religious freedom.”

The need for a unified Baptist witness also is seen in Russia, Lotz said, noting that in 1990 there was only one Baptist church in Moscow. Today there are 52.

“These are the brothers with whom you need to work and whom you need to support,” he said. “The Holy Spirit is moving all over the world, and that's why we need the support of Southern Baptists. We need your support because we know your commitment to evangelism.

“Southern Baptist need to stay in the BWA because of your joy in stewardship,” Lotz continued. “You have supported us over the years, and we want your continued support.

“Your Baptist brothers and sisters around the world say, 'We don't know you, but we love you in Jesus Christ.'”

Posted 6/19/03

Southern Baptist president says
homosexuals can change

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

PHOENIX, Ariz.–Homosexuals are able to change and leave the gay lifestyle, Jack Graham told reporters soon after his re-election as Southern Baptist Convention president.

Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in suburban Dallas, threw his support behind a new SBC emphasis to convince homosexuals to become heterosexual.

“We do not believe a person is captured by a lifestyle that does not please God,” Graham said during a press conference at the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix.

This year's convention is emphasizing a “biblical view” of the family, which Graham and others said does not include homosexuality. A group of protesters who gathered outside the Phoenix Civic Plaza disagreed and urged Southern Baptists to change their anti-gay stance.

Homosexuality is “obviously a huge cultural issue,” Graham acknowledged. “Perhaps some would assume that Southern Baptists are angry or full of hatred toward this group of people. We have those, of course, who have expressed their views and opinions here on the streets and with pamphlets and so on,” he said, referring to the protesters.

Southern Baptists “oppose the homosexual lifestyle” but want “lovingly” to persuade gays to change, Graham said. “We want every person to know that Jesus loves them and that the message of the gospel is for every person.”

Graham and other speakers held up a traditional view of the family as the answer to multiple social problems.

“I believe (the breakdown of) the family is the greatest social issue of our time,” Graham said. Broken families are a problem not only outside the church but inside as well, he added.

He noted the elevated importance of the family in the recently revised Baptist Faith & Message. While the doctrinal statement takes no position on women working outside the home, he said, “We're clear on the responsibilities of both mom and dad to be good parents and to prioritize their children.”

On other issues, Graham said Southern Baptists will make every effort to remain a part of the Baptist World Alliance, even though the convention voted earlier in the day to reduce SBC funding of the international umbrella group from $425,000 to $300,000.

The SBC has been the largest participant and largest funder among the 200-plus BWA member bodies. But Graham said Southern Baptists and the BWA are “struggling” in their relationship. “There are issues at stake that are very serious issues.”

SBC leaders oppose the BWA's plans to grant membership to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which is composed mainly of former Southern Baptists.

“We were concerned the process was becoming flawed and Southern Baptists were not being heard or properly understood (regarding) our viewpoints on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and other issues I'm not prepared to talk about today,” Graham said.

“It's our desire … to work these difficulties out and (be) able to join hands with Baptists across the world,” he said. “Southern Baptists will do everything we can, with integrity to our own denomination and in stewardship of our own funds, to make this work.

“I think we'll know more after this year as to where we stand,” he added.

“We will be working with Baptists around the world in some way,” he said, suggesting the SBC might create or join another international Baptist group. “It's not our desire to be isolated from other Baptists. It's not our desire to be fragmented in any way.”

Graham also said he is not concerned about the rise of five-point Calvinist doctrine among SBC seminary professors and students. “I believe we have a healthy balance among various views,” he said. “I am confident that our Baptist Faith & Message encompasses both streams on that issue.”

But he added he would not want to see Southern Baptists embrace “an elitist doctrine” or to minimize the importance of evangelism, which are common criticisms of five-point Calvinism. Fully developed Calvinism, as embraced by the president and several faculty members at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, teaches that God has predestined only some people for salvation, thereby also condemning all others to hell from the start.

Graham also said he is not worried about the future of missions in the SBC despite a funding shortfall at the International Mission Board. He said the shortfall was due to the economic downturn and added the mission agency had sufffered only “a small fallout” from its decision to require missionaries to sign the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

“I have a great deal of confidence in our International Mission Board,” he said.

Posted 6/19/03

Hawkins calls Baptists to exclusive message

By Charlie Warren

Arkansas Baptist

PHOENIX, Ariz.–“God has raised up Southern Baptists to be a certain sound in our culture,” O.S. Hawkins told messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix. “There is a war on truth and on the trustworthiness of the word of God. … If Southern Baptists don't make a certain sound in this culture, who will?”

Hawkins, president of the SBC Annuity Board, delivered the convention sermon June 18.

Every epoch of Christian history has faced a different question, he said, and 21st century Christians face the biblical question asked by Jesus in Matthew 16:15, “Who do you say I am?”

First century Christians, Hawkins said, faced the question of John 13:38, “Will you lay down your life?” and many met a martyrs death.

Later Christians, he added, faced the question of Matthew 22:42, “What think ye of the Christ; whose son is he?”

After the church entered the dark period of the Roman popes, he continued, it faced the question of John 11:40, “Did I not say if you believe you would see the glory of God?”

Then the modern missionary movement brought the question of Luke 18:8, “When the Son returns, will he find faith on Earth?”

After that, Hawkins said, the influence of 20th century liberalism, pluralism and inclusivism affected the church and raised the question of Luke 17:23, “Will you go away?”

Many mainstream denominations left the faith of their forefathers, he said, bowing instead to pluralism, inclusivism and political correctness.

“Now we minister in the 21st century,” Hawkins said. “All seminarians about to embark on ministry will face the single most important question of our time, the question of Matthew 16:15, 'Who do you say that I am?'”

He identified two kinds of contemporary leadership–those who lead by public consensus and those who lead by personal conviction.

“Those who lead by public consensus lead people to do what they want to do,” Hawkins said. “Those who lead by personal conviction lead others to do what they ought to do. … Jesus knew the tendency we all would have to leave personal convictions for the convenience of public consensus.”

He said Jesus' question of Matthew 16:13, “Who do men say I am?” is a question of public consensus, but the question of Matthew 16:15 is one of personal conviction.

“Some have pushed the mute button on the exclusivity of Jesus Christ,” Hawkins said. “They say Jesus is not the only way to heaven. … Had Paul not been an exclusivist, he would have told the Philippian jailer he probably was saved already. Instead, he said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.'”

Pluralism threatens Christian doctrine, and inclusivism impacts Christian mission, Hawkins declared.

“Does anyone wonder about the need for the conservative resurgence and the need for a revised faith statement?” he asked, referencing the effort to move the SBC in a more conservative direction since 1979 and the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

Liberalism caused other denominations to lose their passion for evangelism and missions, and leaders of the “conservative resurgence” knew that could happen to Southern Baptists, Hawkins explained. “We have removed those shabby coats of pluralism and inclusiveness. The question of public consensus is not for Southern Baptists.”

Jesus didn't say he would show the way but that he is the way, Hawkins reminded, explaining that Christians cannot pretend there is any other way to God.

“Liberals are screaming that we'll put a gospel tract in those food packages going to Iraq,” he said. “Why didn't they scream about Saddam Hussein cutting off the tongues of those who opposed him?”

It was not a belief in inclusivism that motivated Martha Meyers to meet her martyrs death in Yemen, he said, referencing the medical missionary who was killed by a lone guman Dec. 30.

“Southern Baptists are unapologetically trying to Christianize America,” he said. “Southern Baptists are leading the evangelical world today not by public consensus but by personal conviction … We are busy telling the world that Christ is the only way.

“All other ways are false. … Southern Baptists have been raised up in this time to give our world a certain sound.”

Posted 6/19/03

Motions touch on chaplaincy,
state conventions, calendar

By Bob Terry

Alabama Baptist

PHOENIX, Ariz.–Should Southern Baptist military chaplains be ordained ministers?

Navy Capt. Al Hill thinks so. During the opening session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix June 17, Hill offered a motion requiring that ordaination to pastoral ministry be required for all people endorsed for military chaplaincy by the convention's North American Mission Board.

Hill's motion was one of 12 presented during the two-day meeting. Nine, including Hill's, were referred to SBC entities, and three were ruled out of order. No miscellaneous business item, including Hill's, was debated by the 7,008 messengers gathered in the Phoenix Civic Plaza.

Hill, a messenger from First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Va., said he was satisfied with the decision to refer. “At least we have the issue back on the agenda,” he said in an interview. “Prior to this meeting, it seemed the door was closed to further consideration.”

Hill and other military chaplains contend the current NAMB policy of not requiring ordination for military chaplaincy service reduces Southern Baptist chaplains to “religious social workers.”

“It is like sending our troops into battle with defective rounds,” said Army Chaplain Capt. Randy Moore, currently stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. “Southern Baptist chaplains need the best equipment possible. That means ordination to me.”

NAMB changed its policy on chaplains in order to avoid endorsing female chaplains who have been ordained. Although the U.S. military requires all chaplains to be ordained in their faith traditions, NAMB officials contend they will find a way for women to continue serving as chaplains without ordination.

SBC conservatives, including those among NAMB's trustees, believe the Bible forbids ordination of women, but they are open to women serving in chaplaincy roles.

A NAMB spokesman said he is confident the concern of military chaplains will be seriously considered by the agency, including additional conversation with senior military chaplains.

A motion instructing the SBC Executive Committee and others SBC entities to accept funds from Baptist individuals, churches, associations, conventions and organizations originally was ruled out of order because it called on messengers to “exercise authority given to the trustees of the various entities.”

However, the order of business committee offered to meet with Brian Kaylor of Union Mound Baptist Church in Elkland, Mo., to reword the motion in a way that would make it acceptable. After the motion was reworded, it was referred to all SBC entities impacted by the proposed action.

The motion appeared aimed at the decision by the SBC Executive Committee not to accept funds from a recently formed state convention in Missouri. The new convention was formed after changes in leadership of the traditional state convention, the Missouri Baptist Convention.

Five motions were referred to the SBC Executive Committee. Two messengers moved that the SBC annual meeting be held in their respective areas. Bob Mackey of Parma Baptist Church in Ohio asked that the annual meeting be held in Cleveland by 2010 or as soon as possible. Ben Brazal of King of Kings Christian Fellowship in Bronx, N.Y., moved that the convention meet in New York City.

Bobby Greene of Beulah Baptist Church in Kents Stone, Va., asked that the convention calendar include an annual emphasis on God's creation being done in six 24-hour days and on the worldwide flood.

The Executive Committee also will consider a motion requesting a special offering to be collected in July for the International Mission Board to help make up shortfalls in the mission agency's budget. The motion was offered by Greg Hyland of River Valley Community Church in Lebanon, N.H.

Messengers also voted to refer to the Executive Committee a request that proposed resolutions be distributed to the messengers at least one session prior to their consideration.

In addition to the motion by Chaplain Hill, NAMB received two motions dealing with efforts to reach internationals in the United States. Jamal Buhara of Phoenix asked for increased “attention and funding” for ministries to Middle Eastern immigrants. Lawson Lau of Illinois asked for cooperation between NAMB and the IMB to reach 2 million international students and scholars studying in the United States.

Two motions by Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., were ruled out of order. Drake's first motion sought to amend the annual meeting's order of business to allow a five-minute report from Crusade Radio, a program which he directs, about its support for President Bush. Drake's second motion sought to suspend SBC Bylaw 20 to allow presentation of resolutions from the floor. Bylaw 20 requires advance submission of all proposed resolutions. Earlier, the resolutions committee declined to accept resolutions from Drake because they were not submitted prior to the meeting.

Also ruled out of order was a motion by Roy Davis of North Shreveport Baptist Church in Louisiana asking that the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention be declared host of the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix. In declaring the motion out of order, the order of business committee reminded messengers that state conventions are autonomous bodies and cannot be instructed by the SBC.

A motion to reconsider the reduced budget allocation to the Baptist World Alliance was offered by Jim Stroud of Third Creek Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn. After determining that Stroud had voted for the budget the previous day, the motion was introduced and soundly defeated.